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February 2014

02/26/2014

Speaking at the Gwen Cherry Club of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade, First Lady Michelle Obama announced Boys & Girls Clubs of America will join the Partnership for a Healthier America's five-year initiative to make after-school programs healthier and more active for millions of kids. The First Lady is honorary chair for PHA, which works with the private sector to secure commitments to reduce childhood obesity.

We couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity to expand on our Healthy Lifestyles impact agenda. As the nation’s largest provider of low-cost or free out-of-school time activities, BGCA is committed to helping youth eat healthier, make good choices, and lead healthy lifestyles. With this partnership, we can enable millions of more kids to understand why eating well and being active is so important to their long-term success.

BGCA will encourage Clubs to adopt solid standards for nutrition and physical activity. This includes stressing the importance of providing nutrition education, encouraging kids to be more active, and engaging parents with materials and events focusing on healthy habits and physical activity. The Alliance for a Healthier Generation will provide technical assistance and support to help Clubs implement these new guidelines.

Healthy Lifestyles -- along with Academic Success and Good Character & Citizenship -- are priority areas we believe youth must do well at in order to become successful adults. As we continue our collective work toward fulfilling our vision to create Great Futures for America's kids, this partnership adds a critical element to our journey.

02/07/2014

Last year, Boys & Girls Clubs of America conducted a national survey of more than 1,000 young people. We wanted to learn what issues concerned them most as they stand on the brink of adulthood. Their answers were sobering.

An alarming 90 percent told us they don’t believe our country’s leaders listen to them. They were especially concerned that they have no important role to play in their future.

To find out if their opinions had changed, BGCA recently commissioned a follow-up survey. But one year later, young people continue to feel unheard by leaders.

BGCA encourages America’s youth to speak out about their concerns. Moreover, we urge our leaders to listen to them and open up channels for honest dialogue with our young people.

Programs like Youth of the Year, sponsored by Tupperware, enable Club members to develop leadership skills, study habits, and grasp the importance of community service. But to ensure there's enough opportunity to go around for all young people, it's going to take the involvement of all of us. Only when this happens, can we create the necessary environment to positively impact the future of today’s youth – and tomorrow’s America.

It's imperative for young people to be their own change agents. Like 2013-14 National Youth of the Year Kiana Knolland, who's doing just that.

02/05/2014

Sunday's Super Bowl will be dissected by armchair quarterbacks for years to come. It should also be remembered for the difference it'll be making in the lives of N.Y./N.J. Boys & Girls Club members over the coming years.

Following the NFL tradition to leave a lasting and significant in the city where the big game is held, the N.Y./N.J. Super Bowl Host Committee created the Snowflake Youth Foundation. Its mission: transform after-school facilities for youth in New Jersey and metropolitan New York.

In 2012, the Foundation named Boys & Girls Clubs of America as its primary charitable partner. Since then, it has donated nearly $4 million to make critical repairs and renovations at 20 Club facilities. That includes some damaged more than a year ago by Hurricane Sandy, as you can see in this video by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (a Snowflake Youth Foundation partner).

This generous support meant the world to so many of us. Like the Boys & Girls Club of Newark, whose gym, swimming pool, dance studio and learning center were all renovated. And the Boys & Girls Club of Paterson and Passaic, where Executive Director Peter Thornton called the makeover of the Club's 25-year-old pool "a blessing ... these days, capital funding is hard to find."

Super Bowl XLVIII is in the books. Thanks to the Snowflake Youth Foundation, its legacy will be felt by New York and New Jersey Club kids for years to come.